John Dunne
Leading reinsman James Herbertson capped off a successful week when he took the driving honours with a winning treble at Melton.
Deputising for Greg Sugars who was in Tasmania with Fighting Command, Herbertson launched his night guiding home the Jess Tubbs trained Tilly Jayne to a narrow win in the Waste Sense Mares Pace.
“She just got floating on me in the last 100 (metres), she probably just let them get a bit too close for everyone’s liking but she’s a quality filly with a big future ahead of her,” Herbertson said.
Later in the night Herbertson partnered talented trotter Harry Stamper to back-to-back wins at Melton when he came from last to outsprint his rivals in the Aldebaran Park Trotters Free For All.
“He’s got his quirks and is a bit of a kid sometimes but at the end of the day he’s got a lovely gait and he’s got the ability to go with it,” he said.
“He’s working through his fitness at the moment and hopefully he has hardened up by the time the better races come around, at the end of the day if it’s not this year it will be next year that he is up and around that class of horse.”
Herbertson completed a double for Tubbs when he steered Dichotomy home in the APG Trot.
Dichotomy made a sustained run three wide without cover for the last 900 metres but was still able to fend off the challenges scoring comfortably by 10 metres from Meadow Valley Star and Sovereign Tiger.
“She was really good, the further we went the better she trotted,” he said.
“She was quite strong through the line and had plenty of trot left and I couldn’t ask much more with pulling out three wide at the bell to be running through the line as well as she was.”
The win brought up Herbertson’s 15th victory in the sulky in the past eight days, taking his tally to 157 wins for the season.
Meanwhile, Nick Beale enjoyed a career milestone when he landed his first Saturday night win aboard the David Miles trained bolter Rockaway Beach in the Alabar Pace at Melton.
Beale eased Rockaway Beach from his outside front row draw and settled towards the rear of the field before latching onto a three wide trail in the back straight.
Despite being the $126 outsider of the field, Rockaway Beach forged to the lead half way down the straight and held on to score in a thrilling finish with only a head separating the first three horses across the line.
The 26-year-old Beale, who is the nephew of former prominent horseman Jim Beale, said the race played out as he had hoped.
“It’s really good, he stuck his head out at the right time I had the worst person to be running past in James Herbertson in front as he doesn’t let them past very often,” Beale said.
“We got the right run and the race panned out as I thought in being able to follow out Chappy Streetnorth, he was the one I wanted to follow,” he said.
Beale admitted he made his run earlier than he would have liked.
“I probably went a smidgen early but I sort of had to as he swelled up and felt really good on the helmet and when he came off he gave a good pop, but all the other horses were coming quick and we needed that winning post very soon,” he said.
